Wednesday 14th February 2018 Kick off 1945hrs Porto v Liverpool Football – Europe – Champions League The Champions League returns this week as 16 of the best clubs in Europe battle it out to be crowned champions of the continent. Porto were one of the surprise packages of the group stage as they beat out Monaco and Leipzig to qualify, and they face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool with the first leg in Oporto on Wednesday. Neither team may be among the favourites to win the whole thing but that makes it a viable opportunity for the two clubs to make it through to the quarter final stage which has been few and far between in recent memory.
Porto have been excellent so far this season, both domestically and in Europe. They are currently top of the table – two points ahead of their arch rivals Benfica and Sporting Lisbon. Now coached by former player Sergio Conceicao, they are still unbeaten in the league which indicates their consistency and also the improvement under the former Portugal winger. Their performances in the group stages of the Champions League came as something of a shocking having been grouped with last year’s semi-finalists Monaco and the ever-efficient RB Leipzig. Three wins and a draw in their six group matches seen them tuck in behind Besiktas to book their place in the knockout stages. They reached the same stage last season only to lose out to eventual finalists Juventus, being knocked out 3-0 on aggregate. Although they will still be seen as second favourites to progress from this tie it should represent a more achievable passage to the quarter finals.
Liverpool had to survive a couple of scares and frustrations en route to winning their group section, most notably the draws away to Spartak Moscow and Liverpool where they gifted points away. That said, they were still easily the best team in their group and produced some scintillating football, scoring seven goals on two occasions. Their group stage performances was arguably a microcosm of their season to date and even Klopp’s time in charge – a mixture of excellence and calamity. Those calamitous moments will have to be knocked on the head if they are to progress deep into the knockout stages of the Champions League but if their domestic form is anything to go by then we may still be some time away from that. The Reds have chucked in two shocking performances in the past month or so in defeats to lowly Swansea and West Brom but to be fair to them they are the only two defeats in their last 23 games in all competitions. Klopp has experience of getting to the final of this competition with Borussia Dortmund back in 2013 and whilst that may well be beyond his Liverpool team currently, he will certainly be targeting the quarter final stages and a good result in the first leg would see them return to Liverpool with a massive chance of doing that.
Porto v Liverpool Betting Tip
When you consider how competitive this year’s Champions League is likely to be with PSG, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City firing on all cylinders, it’s not unfair to suggest that both Liverpool and Porto are probably on the level below those teams and will have to acquire some luck if they are to threaten the final four. That said, this would be seem as a winnable tie for both when the draw was made in December. Porto have won 10 of their 11 league games at home this season and were impressive in two of their three Champions League group stage games, defeating Monaco and Leipzig. They may see some vulnerability in Liverpool’s away from, too, as the Reds managed only one win in their three group stage away games and that came against lowly Maribor. The confidence that the home team are playing with will also mean they can attack what has been a fragile Liverpool defence.
Taking all that into consideration, Liverpool are still favourites to win this game and the tie as a whole. The quality they possess is just superior to their opponents and I expect that to tell over the two legs. I am keen to explore the goal markets for this one, however, such is the firepower on both teams. All three of Porto’s group stage games at home ended with both teams scoring and that’s the route to go down again.
Both teams to score 4/6 @ Betfair
